diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/status-commands.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/status-commands.ts
index d834e15b..52032e59 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/status-commands.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/status-commands.ts
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ export function registerStatusCommands(program: Command, context: KtxCliCommandC
     .command('status')
     .description('Check current KTX setup and project readiness')
     .option('--json', 'Print JSON output', false)
+    .option('-v, --verbose', 'Show every check, including passing ones', false)
     .option('--no-input', 'Disable interactive terminal input')
-    .action(async (options: { json?: boolean; input?: boolean }, command) => {
+    .action(async (options: { json?: boolean; verbose?: boolean; input?: boolean }, command) => {
       const runner = context.deps.doctor ?? (await import('../doctor.js')).runKtxDoctor;
       const explicitOrEnvProjectDir = resolveCommandProjectDirOverride(command);
       const nearestProjectDir = explicitOrEnvProjectDir ? undefined : findNearestKtxProjectDir(process.cwd());
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ export function registerStatusCommands(program: Command, context: KtxCliCommandC
             {
               command: 'setup',
               outputMode: outputMode(options),
+              verbose: options.verbose === true,
               ...inputMode(options),
             },
             context.io,
@@ -40,6 +42,7 @@ export function registerStatusCommands(program: Command, context: KtxCliCommandC
             command: 'project',
             projectDir: resolveCommandProjectDir(command),
             outputMode: outputMode(options),
+            verbose: options.verbose === true,
             ...inputMode(options),
           },
           context.io,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/doctor.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/doctor.test.ts
index cd96e6d2..c4ae4aeb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/doctor.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/doctor.test.ts
@@ -57,27 +57,64 @@ async function writeProjectConfig(projectDir: string, embeddingLines: string[]):
 }
 
 describe('formatDoctorReport', () => {
-  it('prints exact fixes for failing setup checks', () => {
+  it('shows the failing check and its fix in plain output', () => {
     const checks: DoctorCheck[] = [
-      { id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0 ABI 127' },
+      { id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0 ABI 127', group: 'toolchain' },
       {
         id: 'native-sqlite',
         label: 'Native SQLite',
         status: 'fail',
         detail: 'Cannot load better-sqlite3',
         fix: 'Run: pnpm run native:rebuild',
+        group: 'toolchain',
       },
     ];
 
-    expect(formatDoctorReport({ title: 'KTX setup doctor', checks })).toBe(
-      [
-        'KTX setup doctor',
-        'PASS Node 22+: v22.16.0 ABI 127',
-        'FAIL Native SQLite: Cannot load better-sqlite3',
-        '     Fix: Run: pnpm run native:rebuild',
-        '',
-      ].join('\n'),
-    );
+    const output = formatDoctorReport({ title: 'KTX status', checks });
+    expect(output).toContain('KTX status');
+    expect(output).toContain('✗ Environment');
+    expect(output).toContain('1 of 2 need attention');
+    expect(output).toContain('✗ Native SQLite: Cannot load better-sqlite3');
+    expect(output).toContain('→ Run: pnpm run native:rebuild');
+    expect(output).toContain('1 issue to fix.');
+  });
+
+  it('lists what was checked when a group has all passing checks', () => {
+    const checks: DoctorCheck[] = [
+      { id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0', group: 'toolchain' },
+      { id: 'pnpm', label: 'pnpm 10.20+', status: 'pass', detail: '10.28.0', group: 'toolchain' },
+    ];
+
+    const output = formatDoctorReport({ title: 'KTX status', checks });
+    expect(output).toContain('✓ Environment');
+    expect(output).toContain('Node 22+ · pnpm 10.20+');
+    expect(output).not.toContain('v22.16.0');
+    expect(output).toContain('Everything ready.');
+  });
+
+  it('shows the underlying detail for a single-check group on the group line', () => {
+    const checks: DoctorCheck[] = [
+      {
+        id: 'semantic-search-embeddings',
+        label: 'Semantic search embeddings',
+        status: 'pass',
+        detail: 'openai/text-embedding-3-small (1536d) probe succeeded',
+        group: 'search',
+      },
+    ];
+
+    const output = formatDoctorReport({ title: 'KTX status', checks });
+    expect(output).toContain('✓ Semantic search');
+    expect(output).toContain('openai/text-embedding-3-small (1536d) probe succeeded');
+  });
+
+  it('lists every check in verbose mode', () => {
+    const checks: DoctorCheck[] = [
+      { id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0', group: 'toolchain' },
+    ];
+
+    const output = formatDoctorReport({ title: 'KTX status', checks }, { verbose: true });
+    expect(output).toContain('✓ Node 22+: v22.16.0');
   });
 });
 
@@ -127,6 +164,7 @@ describe('runSetupDoctorChecks', () => {
       status: 'fail',
       detail: 'pnpm not found',
       fix: 'Run: corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@10.28.0 --activate',
+      group: 'toolchain',
     });
     expect(checks).toContainEqual({
       id: 'package-build',
@@ -134,6 +172,7 @@ describe('runSetupDoctorChecks', () => {
       status: 'fail',
       detail: 'Missing packages/cli/dist/bin.js',
       fix: 'Run: pnpm run build',
+      group: 'toolchain',
     });
   });
 
@@ -154,9 +193,11 @@ describe('runSetupDoctorChecks', () => {
     const testIo = makeIo();
 
     await expect(
-      runKtxDoctor({ command: 'setup', outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled' }, testIo.io, {
-        runSetupChecks: async () => checks,
-      }),
+      runKtxDoctor(
+        { command: 'setup', outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled', verbose: true },
+        testIo.io,
+        { runSetupChecks: async () => checks },
+      ),
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
 
     expect(checks).toContainEqual({
@@ -165,8 +206,9 @@ describe('runSetupDoctorChecks', () => {
       status: 'warn',
       detail: 'spawn corepack ENOENT',
       fix: 'Run: corepack enable',
+      group: 'toolchain',
     });
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('WARN Corepack: spawn corepack ENOENT');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('⚠ Corepack: spawn corepack ENOENT');
     expect(testIo.stderr()).toBe('');
   });
 });
@@ -204,12 +246,45 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
       ),
     ).resolves.toBe(1);
 
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('KTX setup doctor');
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('FAIL TypeScript package build: Missing packages/cli/dist/bin.js');
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('Fix: Run: pnpm run build');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('KTX status');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('No project here yet.');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('Before you can run');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('✗ TypeScript package build: Missing packages/cli/dist/bin.js');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('→ Run: pnpm run build');
     expect(testIo.stderr()).toBe('');
   });
 
+  it('leads with `ktx setup` and hides toolchain warnings when no project exists', async () => {
+    const testIo = makeIo();
+
+    await expect(
+      runKtxDoctor(
+        { command: 'setup', outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled' },
+        testIo.io,
+        {
+          runSetupChecks: async () => [
+            { id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0', group: 'toolchain' },
+            {
+              id: 'corepack',
+              label: 'Corepack',
+              status: 'warn',
+              detail: 'spawn corepack ENOENT',
+              fix: 'Run: corepack enable',
+              group: 'toolchain',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ),
+    ).resolves.toBe(0);
+
+    const out = testIo.stdout();
+    expect(out).toContain('No project here yet.');
+    expect(out).toContain('Run');
+    expect(out).toContain('ktx setup');
+    expect(out).not.toContain('Corepack');
+    expect(out).not.toContain('Node 22+');
+  });
+
   it('prints JSON setup report', async () => {
     const testIo = makeIo();
 
@@ -226,7 +301,7 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
 
     expect(JSON.parse(testIo.stdout())).toEqual({
-      title: 'KTX setup doctor',
+      title: 'KTX status',
       checks: [{ id: 'node', label: 'Node 22+', status: 'pass', detail: 'v22.16.0 ABI 127' }],
     });
   });
@@ -261,9 +336,9 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
       ),
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
 
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('KTX project doctor');
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('PASS Project config: warehouse');
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('PASS Connections: 1 configured');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('KTX status');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('· warehouse');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('✓ Project');
   });
 
   it('includes Postgres historic-SQL readiness in project doctor output', async () => {
@@ -299,7 +374,7 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
 
     await expect(
       runKtxDoctor(
-        { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled' },
+        { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled', verbose: true },
         testIo.io,
         {
           runSetupChecks: async () => [
@@ -311,9 +386,9 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
 
     expect(runHistoricSqlDoctorChecks).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('PASS Postgres Historic SQL (warehouse): pg_stat_statements ready');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('✓ Postgres Historic SQL (warehouse): pg_stat_statements ready');
     expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('info: pg_stat_statements.max is 1000');
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).not.toContain('Fix: Update the Postgres parameter group or config');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).not.toContain('→ Update the Postgres parameter group or config');
   });
 
   it('warns when semantic-search embeddings are not configured', async () => {
@@ -332,12 +407,13 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
       ),
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
 
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('WARN Semantic search embeddings: ingest.embeddings.backend is deterministic.');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('⚠ Semantic search');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain('ingest.embeddings.backend is deterministic.');
     expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain(
       'Semantic lane will be skipped; lexical, dictionary, and token lanes remain available.',
     );
     expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain(
-      `Fix: Run: ktx setup --project-dir ${tempDir} --no-input`,
+      `→ Run: ktx setup --project-dir ${tempDir} --no-input`,
     );
   });
 
@@ -355,7 +431,7 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
 
     await expect(
       runKtxDoctor(
-        { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled' },
+        { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'plain', inputMode: 'disabled', verbose: true },
         testIo.io,
         {
           runSetupChecks: async () => [
@@ -377,7 +453,7 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
       { text: 'KTX semantic search doctor probe', timeoutMs: 1234 },
     );
     expect(testIo.stdout()).toContain(
-      'PASS Semantic search embeddings: sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384d) probe succeeded',
+      '✓ Semantic search embeddings: sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384d) probe succeeded',
     );
   });
 
@@ -454,6 +530,7 @@ describe('runKtxDoctor', () => {
       detail:
         'sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384d) probe failed: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:8765. Semantic lane will be skipped; lexical, dictionary, and token lanes remain available.',
       fix: `Run: ktx setup --project-dir ${tempDir} --no-input`,
+      group: 'search',
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/doctor.ts b/packages/cli/src/doctor.ts
index 4203369c..d6e469c0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/doctor.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/doctor.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 type DoctorStatus = 'pass' | 'warn' | 'fail';
 type KtxDoctorOutputMode = 'plain' | 'json';
 type KtxDoctorInputMode = 'auto' | 'disabled';
+type DoctorGroup = 'toolchain' | 'project' | 'search' | 'history';
 
 export interface DoctorCheck {
   id: string;
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ export interface DoctorCheck {
   status: DoctorStatus;
   detail: string;
   fix?: string;
+  group?: DoctorGroup;
 }
 
 interface DoctorReport {
@@ -28,11 +30,22 @@ interface DoctorReport {
 }
 
 export type KtxDoctorArgs =
-  | { command: 'setup'; outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode; inputMode?: KtxDoctorInputMode }
-  | { command: 'project'; projectDir: string; outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode; inputMode?: KtxDoctorInputMode };
+  | {
+      command: 'setup';
+      outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode;
+      inputMode?: KtxDoctorInputMode;
+      verbose?: boolean;
+    }
+  | {
+      command: 'project';
+      projectDir: string;
+      outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode;
+      inputMode?: KtxDoctorInputMode;
+      verbose?: boolean;
+    };
 
 interface KtxDoctorIo {
-  stdout: { write(chunk: string): void };
+  stdout: { isTTY?: boolean; write(chunk: string): void };
   stderr: { write(chunk: string): void };
 }
 
@@ -304,56 +317,291 @@ export async function runSetupDoctorChecks(deps: SetupDoctorDeps = {}): Promise<
     );
   }
 
-  return checks;
+  return checks.map((entry) => ({ ...entry, group: 'toolchain' }));
 }
 
-async function runProjectChecks(projectDir: string, deps: KtxDoctorDeps = {}): Promise<DoctorCheck[]> {
+interface ProjectChecksResult {
+  checks: DoctorCheck[];
+  projectName?: string;
+}
+
+async function runProjectChecks(projectDir: string, deps: KtxDoctorDeps = {}): Promise<ProjectChecksResult> {
   const { loadKtxProject } = await import('@ktx/context/project');
   const checks: DoctorCheck[] = [];
+  let projectName: string | undefined;
+  const tag = (entry: DoctorCheck, group: DoctorGroup): DoctorCheck => ({ ...entry, group });
   try {
     const project = await loadKtxProject({ projectDir });
-    checks.push(check('pass', 'project-config', 'Project config', project.config.project));
+    projectName = project.config.project;
+    checks.push(tag(check('pass', 'project-config', 'Project config', project.config.project), 'project'));
     const connectionCount = Object.keys(project.config.connections).length;
     checks.push(
-      connectionCount > 0
-        ? check('pass', 'connections', 'Connections', `${connectionCount} configured`)
-        : check(
-            'warn',
-            'connections',
-            'Connections',
-            '0 configured',
-            'Add a connection to ktx.yaml or run `ktx setup`',
-          ),
+      tag(
+        connectionCount > 0
+          ? check('pass', 'connections', 'Connections', `${connectionCount} configured`)
+          : check(
+              'warn',
+              'connections',
+              'Connections',
+              '0 configured',
+              'Add a connection to ktx.yaml or run `ktx setup`',
+            ),
+        'project',
+      ),
     );
-    checks.push(check('pass', 'storage', 'Storage', `${project.config.storage.state}/${project.config.storage.search}`));
-    checks.push(check('pass', 'llm-provider', 'LLM provider', project.config.llm.provider.backend));
-    checks.push(await runSemanticSearchEmbeddingCheck(project.config.ingest.embeddings, projectDir, deps));
+    checks.push(
+      tag(
+        check('pass', 'storage', 'Storage', `${project.config.storage.state}/${project.config.storage.search}`),
+        'project',
+      ),
+    );
+    checks.push(tag(check('pass', 'llm-provider', 'LLM provider', project.config.llm.provider.backend), 'project'));
+    checks.push(tag(await runSemanticSearchEmbeddingCheck(project.config.ingest.embeddings, projectDir, deps), 'search'));
     const runHistoricSqlDoctorChecks =
       deps.runHistoricSqlDoctorChecks ?? (await import('./historic-sql-doctor.js')).runPostgresHistoricSqlDoctorChecks;
-    checks.push(...(await runHistoricSqlDoctorChecks(project, deps)));
+    const historic = await runHistoricSqlDoctorChecks(project, deps);
+    for (const entry of historic) {
+      checks.push(tag(entry, 'history'));
+    }
   } catch (error) {
     checks.push(
-      check(
-        'fail',
-        'project-config',
-        'Project config',
-        failureMessage(error),
-        `Run: ktx init ${projectDir} --name <project-name>`,
+      tag(
+        check(
+          'fail',
+          'project-config',
+          'Project config',
+          failureMessage(error),
+          `Run: ktx init ${projectDir} --name <project-name>`,
+        ),
+        'project',
       ),
     );
   }
-  return checks;
+  return { checks, projectName };
 }
 
-export function formatDoctorReport(report: DoctorReport): string {
-  const lines = [report.title];
-  for (const item of report.checks) {
-    lines.push(`${item.status.toUpperCase()} ${item.label}: ${item.detail}`);
-    if (item.fix) {
-      lines.push(`     Fix: ${item.fix}`);
+const STATUS_SYMBOL: Record<DoctorStatus, string> = { pass: '✓', warn: '⚠', fail: '✗' };
+
+const GROUP_ORDER: DoctorGroup[] = ['toolchain', 'project', 'search', 'history'];
+
+const GROUP_LABEL: Record<DoctorGroup, string> = {
+  toolchain: 'Environment',
+  project: 'Project',
+  search: 'Semantic search',
+  history: 'Query history',
+};
+
+function shouldUseColor(io: KtxDoctorIo): boolean {
+  if (io.stdout.isTTY !== true) return false;
+  const env = process.env;
+  return !env.NO_COLOR && env.TERM !== 'dumb' && !env.CI;
+}
+
+function styleStatus(useColor: boolean, status: DoctorStatus, text: string): string {
+  if (!useColor) return text;
+  const code = status === 'pass' ? 32 : status === 'warn' ? 33 : 31;
+  return `\u001b[${code}m${text}\u001b[39m`;
+}
+
+function styleDim(useColor: boolean, text: string): string {
+  return useColor ? `\u001b[2m${text}\u001b[22m` : text;
+}
+
+function styleBold(useColor: boolean, text: string): string {
+  return useColor ? `\u001b[1m${text}\u001b[22m` : text;
+}
+
+function groupOf(entry: DoctorCheck): DoctorGroup {
+  return entry.group ?? 'project';
+}
+
+function aggregateStatus(checks: DoctorCheck[]): DoctorStatus {
+  if (checks.some((c) => c.status === 'fail')) return 'fail';
+  if (checks.some((c) => c.status === 'warn')) return 'warn';
+  return 'pass';
+}
+
+function abbreviateHome(filePath: string | undefined): string | undefined {
+  if (!filePath) return filePath;
+  const home = process.env.HOME;
+  if (home && (filePath === home || filePath.startsWith(`${home}/`))) {
+    return filePath === home ? '~' : `~${filePath.slice(home.length)}`;
+  }
+  return filePath;
+}
+
+function groupSummaryWhenAllPass(entries: DoctorCheck[]): string {
+  if (entries.length === 1) {
+    const only = entries[0]!;
+    return only.detail || only.label;
+  }
+  return entries.map((c) => c.label).join(' · ');
+}
+
+interface RenderOptions {
+  verbose: boolean;
+  useColor: boolean;
+  durationMs?: number;
+  projectName?: string;
+  projectDir?: string;
+  command?: 'setup' | 'project';
+}
+
+const NEXT_STEPS_PROJECT = ['ktx scan', 'ktx wiki', 'ktx sl ask "…"'];
+
+export function formatDoctorReport(report: DoctorReport, options: Partial<RenderOptions> = {}): string {
+  const opts: RenderOptions = {
+    verbose: options.verbose ?? false,
+    useColor: options.useColor ?? false,
+    durationMs: options.durationMs,
+    projectName: options.projectName,
+    projectDir: options.projectDir,
+    command: options.command,
+  };
+  return renderPlainReport(report, opts);
+}
+
+function renderSetupReport(report: DoctorReport, options: RenderOptions): string {
+  const { verbose, useColor } = options;
+  const dim = (text: string) => styleDim(useColor, text);
+  const bold = (text: string) => styleBold(useColor, text);
+  const status = (s: DoctorStatus, text: string) => styleStatus(useColor, s, text);
+  const symbol = (s: DoctorStatus) => status(s, STATUS_SYMBOL[s]);
+
+  const fails = report.checks.filter((c) => c.status === 'fail');
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  lines.push(bold(report.title));
+  lines.push('');
+  lines.push(`  No project here yet.`);
+  lines.push('');
+
+  if (fails.length > 0) {
+    lines.push(`  Before you can run ${bold('ktx setup')}, fix this:`);
+    for (const entry of fails) {
+      lines.push(`      ${symbol('fail')} ${entry.label}: ${entry.detail}`);
+      if (entry.fix) {
+        lines.push(`        ${dim(`→ ${entry.fix}`)}`);
+      }
+    }
+    lines.push('');
+  } else {
+    lines.push(`  Run  ${bold('ktx setup')}  to get started.`);
+    lines.push('');
+  }
+
+  if (verbose) {
+    lines.push(dim('  Toolchain:'));
+    for (const entry of report.checks) {
+      lines.push(`      ${symbol(entry.status)} ${entry.label}: ${entry.detail}`);
+      if (entry.fix && entry.status !== 'pass') {
+        lines.push(`        ${dim(`→ ${entry.fix}`)}`);
+      }
+    }
+    lines.push('');
+  }
+
+  return lines.join('\n');
+}
+
+function renderPlainReport(report: DoctorReport, options: RenderOptions): string {
+  if (options.command === 'setup') return renderSetupReport(report, options);
+  const { verbose, useColor, durationMs, projectName, projectDir } = options;
+  const dim = (text: string) => styleDim(useColor, text);
+  const bold = (text: string) => styleBold(useColor, text);
+  const status = (s: DoctorStatus, text: string) => styleStatus(useColor, s, text);
+  const symbol = (s: DoctorStatus) => status(s, STATUS_SYMBOL[s]);
+
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  const titleParts: string[] = [bold(report.title)];
+  if (projectName) titleParts.push(projectName);
+  const abbreviatedDir = abbreviateHome(projectDir);
+  const titleLine = titleParts.join(` ${dim('·')} `);
+  const dirSuffix = abbreviatedDir ? ` ${dim(`(${abbreviatedDir})`)}` : '';
+  lines.push(`${titleLine}${dirSuffix}`);
+  lines.push('');
+
+  const groups = new Map<DoctorGroup, DoctorCheck[]>();
+  for (const entry of report.checks) {
+    const group = groupOf(entry);
+    const bucket = groups.get(group) ?? [];
+    bucket.push(entry);
+    groups.set(group, bucket);
+  }
+
+  const orderedGroups: DoctorGroup[] = [];
+  for (const g of GROUP_ORDER) {
+    if (groups.has(g)) orderedGroups.push(g);
+  }
+  for (const g of groups.keys()) {
+    if (!orderedGroups.includes(g)) orderedGroups.push(g);
+  }
+
+  const labelWidth = orderedGroups.reduce(
+    (max, g) => Math.max(max, (GROUP_LABEL[g] ?? g).length),
+    0,
+  );
+
+  for (const group of orderedGroups) {
+    const entries = groups.get(group) ?? [];
+    const head = aggregateStatus(entries);
+    const nonPass = entries.filter((c) => c.status !== 'pass');
+    const label = (GROUP_LABEL[group] ?? group).padEnd(labelWidth);
+
+    if (nonPass.length === 0) {
+      lines.push(`  ${symbol(head)} ${label}    ${dim(groupSummaryWhenAllPass(entries))}`);
+      if (verbose) {
+        for (const entry of entries) {
+          lines.push(`      ${symbol(entry.status)} ${entry.label}: ${entry.detail}`);
+        }
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (entries.length === 1) {
+      const only = entries[0]!;
+      lines.push(`  ${symbol(only.status)} ${label}    ${only.detail}`);
+      if (only.fix) {
+        lines.push(`  ${' '.repeat(2 + labelWidth + 4)}${dim(`→ ${only.fix}`)}`);
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    lines.push(`  ${symbol(head)} ${label}    ${dim(`${nonPass.length} of ${entries.length} need attention`)}`);
+    for (const entry of entries) {
+      if (entry.status === 'pass' && !verbose) continue;
+      lines.push(`      ${symbol(entry.status)} ${entry.label}: ${entry.detail}`);
+      if (entry.fix) {
+        lines.push(`        ${dim(`→ ${entry.fix}`)}`);
+      }
     }
   }
+
   lines.push('');
+
+  const totalFail = report.checks.filter((c) => c.status === 'fail').length;
+  const totalWarn = report.checks.filter((c) => c.status === 'warn').length;
+  const durationText = durationMs !== undefined ? ` ${dim(`(${(durationMs / 1000).toFixed(2)}s)`)}` : '';
+
+  if (totalFail === 0 && totalWarn === 0) {
+    const hint = `  ${dim('Try:')} ${NEXT_STEPS_PROJECT.join(dim('  ·  '))}`;
+    lines.push(`${status('pass', 'Everything ready.')}${hint}${durationText}`);
+  } else if (totalFail === 0) {
+    const word = totalWarn === 1 ? 'warning' : 'warnings';
+    lines.push(
+      `${status('warn', `${totalWarn} ${word}.`)} ${dim('Run')} ktx status --verbose ${dim('for full details.')}${durationText}`,
+    );
+  } else {
+    const fWord = totalFail === 1 ? 'issue' : 'issues';
+    const warnSuffix =
+      totalWarn > 0
+        ? ` ${dim('·')} ${status('warn', `${totalWarn} ${totalWarn === 1 ? 'warning' : 'warnings'}`)}`
+        : '';
+    lines.push(
+      `${status('fail', `${totalFail} ${fWord} to fix.`)}${warnSuffix}${durationText}`,
+    );
+  }
+  lines.push('');
+
   return lines.join('\n');
 }
 
@@ -361,12 +609,12 @@ function hasFailures(report: DoctorReport): boolean {
   return report.checks.some((item) => item.status === 'fail');
 }
 
-function writeReport(report: DoctorReport, outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode, io: KtxDoctorIo): void {
+function writeReport(report: DoctorReport, outputMode: KtxDoctorOutputMode, io: KtxDoctorIo, options: RenderOptions): void {
   if (outputMode === 'json') {
     io.stdout.write(`${JSON.stringify(report, null, 2)}\n`);
     return;
   }
-  io.stdout.write(formatDoctorReport(report));
+  io.stdout.write(renderPlainReport(report, options));
 }
 
 export async function runKtxDoctor(
@@ -374,18 +622,34 @@ export async function runKtxDoctor(
   io: KtxDoctorIo = process,
   deps: KtxDoctorDeps = {},
 ): Promise<number> {
+  const startedAt = Date.now();
   try {
     const runSetupChecks = deps.runSetupChecks ?? (() => runSetupDoctorChecks());
     const setupChecks = await runSetupChecks();
-    const report: DoctorReport =
-      args.command === 'setup'
-        ? { title: 'KTX setup doctor', checks: setupChecks }
-        : {
-            title: 'KTX project doctor',
-            checks: [...setupChecks, ...(await runProjectChecks(args.projectDir, deps))],
-          };
+    let projectName: string | undefined;
+    let projectDir: string | undefined;
+    let report: DoctorReport;
+    if (args.command === 'setup') {
+      report = { title: 'KTX status', checks: setupChecks };
+    } else {
+      const projectResult = await runProjectChecks(args.projectDir, deps);
+      projectName = projectResult.projectName;
+      projectDir = args.projectDir;
+      report = {
+        title: 'KTX status',
+        checks: [...setupChecks, ...projectResult.checks],
+      };
+    }
 
-    writeReport(report, args.outputMode, io);
+    const renderOptions: RenderOptions = {
+      verbose: args.verbose ?? false,
+      useColor: shouldUseColor(io),
+      durationMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
+      projectName,
+      projectDir,
+      command: args.command,
+    };
+    writeReport(report, args.outputMode, io, renderOptions);
     return hasFailures(report) ? 1 : 0;
   } catch (error) {
     io.stderr.write(`${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}\n`);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
index 305cf30e..d1c2587e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
@@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
 
     expect(setup).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(doctor).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'json', inputMode: 'disabled' },
+      { command: 'project', projectDir: tempDir, outputMode: 'json', inputMode: 'disabled', verbose: false },
       statusIo.io,
     );
     expect(statusIo.stderr()).toBe('');
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       await expect(runKtxCli(['status', '--json', '--no-input'], statusIo.io, { doctor })).resolves.toBe(0);
 
       expect(doctor).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        { command: 'setup', outputMode: 'json', inputMode: 'disabled' },
+        { command: 'setup', outputMode: 'json', inputMode: 'disabled', verbose: false },
         statusIo.io,
       );
       expect(statusIo.stderr()).toBe('');